Take-up latch mechanism

ABSTRACT

A LATCH MECHANISM FOR POSITIVELY SECURING A SONOBUOY LAUNCHING CONTAINER INSERTED GENERALLY UPWARD IN AN AIRCRAFT-MOUNTED LAUNCHER TUBE. A PAIR OF LATCHES AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE TUBE. OPENING ARE SPRING-URGED INWARDLY TO ENGAGE THE EXPOSED END OF THE CONTAINER WHEN INSERTED. EACH LATCH IS CONNECTED TO ONE END OF A ROD, THE OTHER END BEING THREADED FOR SELECTIVELY ENGAGEMENT BY A CORRESPONDINGLY THREADED COLLECT PIVOTALLY CONNECTED TO LAUNCHER TUBE STRUCTURE. A COLLET RING, MOVABLE ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE ROD BY A STIRRUP, IS DRAWN UPWARD URGING THE COLLET INTO LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE ROD. THE STIRRUP IS SPRING-BIASED DOWNWARD AND IS URGED UPWARD BY A MANUALLY-OPERATED LEVER. THUS, THE CONTAINER IS FIRST DRAWN INTO THE TUBE TO A PREDETERMINED FORCE, THEN THE COLLET RING ENGAGES THE COLLET CAUSING IT TO GRIP THE ROD AND POSITIVELY SECURE THE CONTAINER.

NOV. 9J, 1971 1NK, JR ET AL TAKE-UP LATCH MECHANISM Filed Feb. 26. 1970 1 /A ulw ww INVENTORS HENRY FINK, JR. CURTIS B. ANDERSON ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice BfilSASfi Patented Nov. 9, 1971 3,618,450 TAKE-UP LATCH MECHANISM Henry Fink, Jr., Torrance, and Curtis 13. Anderson, Mission Viejo, Calif., assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Feb. 26, 1970, Ser. No. 14,374 Int. Cl. B64d 1 04 US. Cl. 891.5 R 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A latch mechanism for positively securing a sonobuoy launching container inserted generally upward in an aircraft-mounted lanucher tube. A pair of latches at opposite sides of the tube opening are spring-urged inwardly to engage the exposed end of the container when inserted. Each latch is connected to one end of a rod, the other end being threaded for selective engagement by a correspondingly threaded collet pivotally connected to launcher tube structure. A collet ring, movable along the length of the rod by a stirrup, is drawn upward urging the collet into locking engagement with the rod. The stirrup is spring-biased downward and is urged upward by a manually-operated lever. Thus, the container is first drawn into the tube to a predetermined force, then the collet ring engages the collet causing it to grip the rod and positively secure the container.

STATEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INTEREST The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to latch mechanisms for store launchers and more particularly to a latch mechanism for securing a sonobuoy launching container in a lanucher tube of an aircraft-mounted launcher system.

Aircraft-launched sonobuoys deployed in the ocean for acoustically detecting, identifying and localizing underwater objects are usually first assembled in a ballistic configuration and stored in sealed cylindrical containers. A recent innovation to this technique involves structuring the containers for direct insertion in the lanucher tubes with the sonobuoys contained therein. Each container has a rupturable cover at one end and a prapellant at the other end which, when activated, ejects the sonobuoy while the container remains in the launcher. The propellant may be activated electrically or fluidically through an ignition circuit interface at the breech or closed end of the launcher tube.

It is imperative that the launching container rigidly abut the closed end of the launcher tube to prevent rattling and intermittent discontinuity of the ignition circuit interface. Due to inherent slight variations in relative lengths of the launching containers and launcher tubes, each launching tube latch mechanism has to be individually adjusted to insure proper container securement. Consequently, the time required for loading a multisonobuoy launcher becomes logistically critical. Conventional store loading and latching mechanisms have been found unacceptable. For example, latch mechanisms engaging the launching container at the open end of the tube and urging it against the closed end with high springconstant compression springs still results in rattling and interface discontinuities at the ignition circuit under the high G loadings of aircraft. Conventional non-resilient and non-adjustable latch mechanisms resulted in either loose insertions for undersized containers or damaged ends on oversized containers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, a general purpose and object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved latch mechanism for store launchers which will enable rapid loading and positive securement of stores especially against high acceleration loadings present in aircraft environments. Another object of the invention is to provide a latch mechanism operable at the open end of the launcher tube which will uniformly and positively grip the stores of variable lengths. Still another object of the invention is to provide a latch mechanism which is suitable for existing sonobuoy launching container configurations of the type described hereinabove, which can be safely operated, and which is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, assemble, and maintain.

Briefly, these and other objects are accomplished according to the invention by a pair of latches formed and positioned to engage opposite edges of the exposed end of an inserted sonobuoy launching container. Each latch is pivotally connected to one end of a rod and springurged laterally against the container. A manually op erated stirrup is operatively connected to each rod by a spring for drawing the store into the launcher tube until it abuts and interfaces with the closed end. Further movement of the stirrup compresses the spring and causes a collet ring to engage a threaded collet and squeeze it into engagement with the threaded portion of the rod. An overcenter lever on one of the stirrups maintains the spring in compression against the latch and the collet ring over the collet. A crank opreatively connected between the two stirrups causes concomitant operation of both latches.

As applied to a sonobuoy launching container, energization of the ignition circuit causes the sonobuoy to eject through the rupturable end cover while the latches retain the container in the launcher tube. To remove the store without launching, the stirrups are released by the overcenter lever thereby disengaging the collets from the rods and permitting the latches to move away from the open end of the tube. With the store thusly held loosely in the tube, the latches may be spread apart against the forces of the latch springs to release the store.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 represents a fragmentary view partially in longitudinal cross section of a preferred. embodiment of a latch mechanism according to the invention as applied to a sonobuoy launcher;

FIG. 2 represents a cross-sectional view of a latch and fragments of associated elements of the latch mechanism of FIG. 1 taken along the line 22 thereof; and

FIG. 3 represents a cross-sectional view of a crank and fragments of associated elements of the latch mechanism of FIG. 1 taken along the line 33 thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a conventional air-launchable sonobuoy 10 sealed within a launching container 11. The container 11 includes a rupturable or removable cover 12 at one end and an explosive charge at the other end for selectively propelling the cover 12 and sonobuoy 10. An electrical contact exposed at said other end of container 11 is formed to register with an ignition circuit for firing the charge. Sonobuoy launching containers such as contemplated are disclosed in US. Pat. 3,266,372 issued Aug. 16, 1966 to H. J. Mack et al. Of course it is contemplated that other propellants, pneu- 3 matic, hydraulic, etc, may be used according to the invention.

Container 11 is shown in an inserted position abutting the breech or closed end of an upright launcher tube 13 comprising one of a plurality contained within a sonobouy launcher housing 14. The housing 14 is formed for mounting on either side of the fuselage of an aircraft with the launcher tubes placed in a single row along the length of the fuselage and oriented for generally downward sonobuoy ejection. The let and right hand sides of housing 14 in FIG. 1 are inboard and outboard, respectively, of the fuselage.

The closed end of tube 13 includes an electrical contact 16 axially positioned to register with the aforementioned contacts in container 11. Wires 17 connect the contact 16 to a remote electrical energizing circuit, not shown, which is responsive to a sonobuoy launch command signal.

Container 11 is vertically retained in tube 13 by opposed inboard and outboard latches 18 and 19 on which tong portions extend inwardly under the edge of container 11 but short of its inside opening in order not to obstruct ejection of sonobuoy 10. Inboard and outboard latches 18 and 19, and elements associated with each, operate substantially in identical fashion. Accordingly, only outboard latch 19 and its associated elements will be described except as noted hereinafter.

Referring also to FIG. 2 of the drawing, latch 19 is rotationally mounted on a latch shaft 21 supported at its ends in bifurcated bushings of a latch guide 22. Both latch 19 and guide 22 are formed with confronting bosses for receiving a latch compression spring 23 for laterally urging the tong portion of latch 19 toward latch 18. Guide 22 is slidable within housing 14 along the outside length of tube 13 with the force of spring 23 on guide 22 being transmitted to the adjacent outboard side of housing 14.

The shaft 21 includes a hole intermediate the ends thereof which receives therethrough the lower end of a pull rod 24 terminating in a lateral boss 25 seated against a recessed surface on the lower side of shaft 21. The upper end of rod 24 is threaded to receive a hexagonal nut 26 having a lower flanged portion 27. A collar 29, slidable along the length of rod 24, is urged against the top of guide 22 by a collet compression spring 31 about rod 24 opposed by nut 26. An elongated bifurcated stirrup 36 fixed at the lower end thereof to collar 29 and extending upward on either side of rod 24 terminates with a bushing 37 transversely secured thereto. The outboard bushing 37 engages a bifurcated end of an outboard crank 38 which in turn is fixed to a crank shaft 39 for rotation therewith in a support bracket 41 (FIG. 3) fixed to housing 14. The shaft 39 extends transversely toward the inboard side of housing 14 to inboard crank 42 which engages inboard bushing 43 to cause the inboard stirrup 44 to move concomitantly with outboard stirrup 36. The stirrup 36 further includes a collet ring 28 fixed to the confronting bifurcated sides and juxtapositioned around the threaded end of rod 24. The inside of ring 28 is tapered outwardly at its upper end for receiving the lower end of a correspondingly tapered outer surface of a collet 3 2. Collet 32 comprises two jaws pivotally connected at their upper ends by pin 33 to housing 14. The jaws have confronting threaded surfaces for meshing with the threads on rod 24 but are biased apart by a collet spring 34. Collet 32 is positioned between the sides of stirrup 36 and along its length so that upward movement of stirrup 36 and collet ring 28 against the force of spring 31 will cause collet 32 to threadingly engage rod 24.

The upper end of stirrup 36 also includes an opening formed to engage a hook 46 depending from a pin 47 at one end of a hand-operated overcenter lever 48. Lever 48 is pivotally connected intermediate its ends to fixed structure in housing 14 by a pin 49, so that it registers with an opening in the outboard side of housing 14 for access by an operator. The lever 48 is shown, in solid outline, in a non-secure position in which only the weight of container 11 is transmitted through spring 31. The lever 43 is also shown, in dotted outline, in a secure position in which the container 11 is forced against the closed end of tube 13 by the compression force of spring 31.

OPERATION Operation of the latch mechanism as applied to an aircraft-mounted sonobuoy launcher is as follows. Beginning with an unloaded launcher, all of the manual levers 48 (only one being shown) are raised to the non-secure position shown in solid outline in FIG. 1. The weight of inboard and outboard latches 18 and 19 and parts movable therewith causes them to move downward to a position relative to tube 13 for receiving a sonobuoy launching container 11. A contniaer 11 is inserted until latch springs 23 move the tongs of latches 18 and 19 beneath the bottom edge of container 11 as shown in FIG. 1. As illustrated, it is contemplated that the tongs of latches 18 and 19 be chamferred on their lower surfaces for transferring a part of the insertion force outward against latch springs 23. This enables container insertion in one motion.

With latches 18 and 19 engaging the container 11 as shown in FIG. 1, the operator commences to move lever 48 to the secure position shown in dotted outline in drawing. This commences to raise stirrup 36 and, through the compression force of spring 31, to raise container 11 against the closed end of tube 13. After no further movement of container 11 and latches 18 and 19 is possible, continued movement of lever 48 compresses spring 31 between nut 26 and collar 29 drawing collet ring 28 into engagement with collet 32 at their confronting tapered surfaces. The jaws of collet 32 then move inwardly to threadingly engage rod 24. The position of collet ring 28 along the length of the stirrup 36 relative to collet 32 must be set to produce positive engagement of the latter with rod 24 with lever 48 at the overcenter position as shown in dotted outline in FIG. 1.

Due to crank shaft 39, inboard stirrup 44 and associated parts operate concomitantly with and in the same manner as outboard stirrup 36 With all of overcenter levers 18 of the somobuoy launcher in the secure position, the aircraft is ready for take-off. When over a desired sonobuoy deployment position, it is only necessary to energize the propellant ignition circuit for respective sonobuoys to eject the buoys from the containers 11 in a manner described hereinabove.

The containers 11 may be unloaded from the tubes 13 as follows. Lever 48 is lifted to the non-secure position. This lowers the inboard and outboard stirrups to release the collets from the rods and causes further lowering of the latches 18 and 19, whereupon the latches are captured by the housing in such a way that they cannot move to release the container, thus preventing inadvertent release of a container.

From the foreging description of the preferred embodiment some of the many advantages of the invention should now be readily apparent. For example, the latch mechanism is ideally suited for use with sonobuoy launching containers in that it insures that the container is pulled firmly up against the firing head in the launcher tube thus achieving good electrical, pneumatic or hydraulic contact, and positively locked in the firing position. The latch mechanism can be operated by the crew without special tools and it can accomplish the abovement-ioned advantages despite variations in length of the launching container.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials, steps and arrangement of parts, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A latch mechanism for securing a container in a launcher tube, comprising:

first means operatively connected to the tube and including stirrup means having bifurcated sides, rod means slidable in said stirrup means, latch means pivotally connected to said rod means and formed to grip the lower edge of the container when in serted in the tube, and spring means operatively connected between said stirrup means and said rod means for resiliently urging the container into the tube; and

second means operatively connected between the tube and said first means for rigidly urging the container into the tube in lieu of said spring means.

2. A latch mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said second means includes:

collect means pivotally connected to the tube and having opposed surfaces for gripping the rod means; and

collet ring means fixed to said stirrup means and registerable with said collet means for selectively closing said collet means against said rod means.

3. A latch mechanism for securing a cylindrical container in a launcher tube, comprising:

an overcenter lever pivotally connected intermediate the ends thereof relative to the tube;

an elongated stirrup means operatively connected at one end thereof to one end of said lever and depending therefrom along the length of said tube;

rod means slidably extending through the other end of said stirrup means and along the length thereof;

latch means pivotally connected to the end of said rod means which extends from said stirrup means and formed to grip the lower edge of the container when inserted in the tube;

spring means operatively connected between said stirrup means and said rod means;

collet means pivotally connected at one end thereof relative to the tube having opposed surfaces formed at the other end thereof for gripping the other end of said rod means; and

collet ring means fixed to said stirrup means and registerable with said collet means for selectively closing said collet means against said rod means upon relative movement of said stirrup means and said rod means.

4. A latch mechanism according to claim 3 wherein: 45

said rod means includes threads at said other end; and

said collet means opposed surfaces includes threads 5. A latch mechanism according to claim 4 wherein:

said collet means is tapered at said other end; and

said collet ring means is correspondingly tapered for registration with said collet means.

6. A latch mechanism for securing a container in a launcher tube, comprising:

an overcenter lever pivotally connected intermediate the ends thereof to the tube;

a pair of elongated stirrup means positioned on each side of the launcher tube, one of said stirrup means being operatively connected at one end thereof to one end of said lever and depending therefrom along the length of the tube;

a pair of rod means slidably extending through respective other ends of said stirrup means and along the lengths thereof;

a pair of latch means pivotally connected to respective ends of said rod means which extend from said stirrup means and formed to grip the lower edge of the container an opposite sides when inserted in the tube;

a pair of spring means operatively connected between respective ones of said stirrup means and said rod means;

a pair of collet means pivotally connected at respective one ends thereof to said tube, each having opposed surfaces formed at the other end thereof for gripping respectively the other end of said rod means; pair of collet ring means fixed to respective ones of said stirrup means and registerable with said collet means for selectively closing said collet means against said rod means upon relative movement of said stirrup means and said rod means; and crank means pivotally connected relative to the tube and operatively connected between said pair of stirrup means for concomitant movement thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,830,497 4/1958 Smoot et :al. 89--1.806 3,481,246 12/1969 Snyder 891.806 1,621,654 3/1927 Boos 891.5 2,852,982 9/1958 Musser 89-1.5 G 3,153,395 10/1964 Kapp 102-4 SAMUEL W. ENGLE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

